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Ayrton Senna Special: Extra 4: Senna and Ferrari - A deal that did not come off (1990)

Published on 25 Apr 2019 18:00
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By: Fergal Walsh

In our report about Gerard Ducarouge, we already talked about the possible switch to Ferrari for Ayrton Senna. However, in the period after that there was still regular contact between Senna and people from Ferrari. The first concrete time that even possible preliminary contracts could be drawn up was around 1990.

The big question motorsport fans kept asking themselves was the following: How close was a collaboration between Ferrari and Senna? GPToday.net found information about a secret 'deal' that Ayrton Senna had made with Ferrari's team boss, Cesare Fiorio.

At the beginning of the new millennium, there was a rumour that there would be a preliminary contract (a letter of intent) between Ayrton Senna and Cesare Fiorio, Ferrari's team boss during the period 1989-1991. At the time, Fiorio would be looking for 'the best available' driver. In a conversation, Fiorio admitted the following: "Of course Ayrton was at the top of our wish list.

"Alain Prost insisted, just like Nigel Mansell, who was already active for us in 1989. Our goal was to replace Gerhard Berger with Ayrton Senna, so I decided to start the conversation with him. Ayrton told me he had a contract for the next year, so a deal was impossible. He also said that he was open to a conversation with me. I decided to take Alain Prost. Prost left McLaren and became a teammate of Nigel Mansell."

Ferrari chose this lineup because the Italians thought it was the best possible driver duo. Mansell won two Grands Prix for Ferrari in 1989, his debut race in Brazil and the Grand Prix of Hungary. Berger had many problems with the Ferrari and only came to a points finish during the Italian Grand Prix, the 12th race, for the first time. Berger was, never announced by Fiorio, the weakest link in the team. The Italians had to gain a big name and by attracting Prost they had the reigning world champion in the stable.

"In 1990 I came into contact with Ayrton again," the Italian said. "He was interested in coming to Ferrari so my approach was easy because we both wanted to work together. After the Grand Prix of Brazil in 1990, a race won by Alain Prost, I decided to stay in Brazil one more day. Ayrton sent a private driver to pick me up at the hotel and we drove to his house. I remember that we talked from nine in the morning until seven in the evening. There were no managers or lawyers present, it was Ayrton and me. By the end of the day, we had discussed 80% of all our things and the deal was done for 80%. I had a plane to catch and we agreed to sit down at the table again in the future."

The next meeting between Fiorio and Senna took place on the Thursday before the French Grand Prix at Paul Ricard: "I went to Ayrton's house in Monaco. We talked further there. In that conversation, it was about the 20% of the material that we hadn't discussed yet. It was also about small things, like his Nacional-cap that had to be replaced by a Marlboro-cap. Ferrari had no problems with this Nacional-cap, but in this case, we were talking about our sponsor Philip Morris, who was also a sponsor of McLaren. These are little things you needed to get Senna into Ferrari.

"Within Ferrari there was a leak and I got the then president, Mr. Piero Fusaro against me. He started a war against me and informed Alain Prost of my conversations. From that moment on I got in big trouble regarding my attitude towards Prost. It became a very complicated affair, and in the end I had to leave the team.

!I was young in Formula 1 at the time. Ayrton didn't know me as a team manager. He was actually straight from the start by saying that he had a contract with McLaren. I said that wasn't a problem for me, as I needed time to build the right team for him."

Fiorio went on to talk about Senna's wishes, which he made clear during his conversations: "He had a number of things that he would like to see. He wanted to keep abreast of the technical development and he pointed out the option of hiring Steve Nichols from McLaren. That was a good idea as I had ended my collaboration with John Barnard."

At a later stage, Fiorio and Senna spoke regularly in the paddock. From both sides, the deal had remained discrete. The deal never took place and that is still a serious loss for the Italian motorsport fan. In the book "l'uomo che attiro' senna alla Ferrari" Fiorio explains how he looked at Ayrton.

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Replies (1)

JuJuHound

Posts: 352
Senna was lucky not to join Ferrari at their worst period in F1 history 1991-1993. Senna had a chance to join Williams for 1991 but he used their deal as a bargain to take more money from McLaren. Then Williams wanted to sign Alesi but as a Sicilian he chose Ferrari. That move costed his career.
Everybody are complaining about Lewis winning many titles because of good car. Yes this is true, but when he made a move from McLaren to Mercedes nobody understood this.
- + 0
- Apr 26 2019 - 08:43

Ayrton Senna Special: Extra 4: Senna and Ferrari - A deal that did not come off (1990)

Replies (1)

JuJuHound

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